China’s auto exports continue to expand during January-August period

China’s auto exports surged 117.5 percent year-on-year to reach about 1.32 million units during the period from January to August this year, notching a historic high, according to data from China’s General Administration of Customs.

Photo shows a Hongqi H9 sedan produced by Chinese automaker FAW at a newly opened Hongqi sales center in Riyadh, capital of Saudi Arabia. (Xinhua/Wang Haizhou)

During the same period, the country’s auto exports stood at 137.7 billion yuan (about $21.35 billion), up 111.1 percent, which exceeded last year’s 12-month running total.

In August alone, exports of passenger cars rose 1.9 times year-on-year to 154,000 units, while that of commercial cars increased by 85.7 percent to reach 33,000 units, data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) showed. Of the total exports, new energy vehicles (NEVs) contributed 35.2 percent to overall vehicle exports.

China’s automaker Great Wall Motors, for example, sold 12,399 units of vehicles in overseas markets in August, an increase of 81.1 percent from a year earlier. Its overseas sales between January and August soared by 156.8 percent year-on-year to reach 86,509 units.

In the first half of this year, the overseas sales of SAIC Motor, another Chinese auto giant, surged 112.8 percent year-on-year to 265,000 units. The figure is expected to reach 550,000 by year-end.

In recent years, the quality, technology, and brand services of China’s automobiles have been improving continuously, which has boosted Chinese auto companies’ international competitiveness, thus resulting in faster growth in auto exports.

The rapid growth in China’s auto exports can also be attributed to two factors – namely, the country’s complete industrial system and effective COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control – which have created favorable conditions for stable automobile production and exports, according to Fu Linghui, spokesperson from the National Bureau of Statistics. Meanwhile, the high growth rates for auto exports have also partly been due to a low base during the same period in 2020, Fu said.

Of particular note, Chinese auto companies operating in the field of NEVs have been actively expanding into European markets since last year, said Xu Haidong, deputy chief engineer of CAAM, adding that China’s NEV manufacturers are now expanding their presence in Europe after the region increased its subsidies for NEVs.

On Aug. 12, China’s leading NEV manufacturer BYD handed over its first batch of 100 Tang electric SUVs in Oslo, capital of Norway, the first European country in which BYD has expanded its passenger car market. BYD plans to deliver 1,500 units of its electric vehicle to Norway by the end of this year, according to an executive from the company.